Ring splice for woven-wire fabrics



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KARL E. FEHLER, OF WEST HARTFORD, CGNNECTGU'T, ASSIGNOR TO HARTFORD-EM- PIB/E COMEANY, F HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

RING SPLICE FOR WOVEN-WIRE FABRICS.

My invention relates to sectional wovenwire fabrics, and its object is to provide novel and effective means for connecting or splicing the panels or sections of conveyor belts formed of sections composed of intermeshing helical wires of right-hand twist alternating with sections composed of internieshing helical wires of lefthand twist.

Conveyor belts composed of woven-wire fabric are frequently made in sections altcrnatelj.' of right and left-hand twist so as to avoid the tendency of such a conveyor to creep laterally upon its supports when in use. According to my present invention, l employ connecting rings for the purpose of joining the edges of suchsections, each ring embracing adjacent turns of the end wires of the two sections to be connected.

rthe single figure of the accompanying drawing isla fragmentary plan view of a portion of a sectional woven wire' conveyor,

showing the manner in which two sections of opposite twist are connected. by rings according to my present invention. In the drawing, the-numeral 2 indicates part of a section of woven wire fabric composed of intermeshing helical wires of ri ght-hand twist, and the numeral 3 indicates another section similar to the first, except that it is composed of wires of left-hand twist. Rings connect the adjacent end wires of the sections 2 and 3, these rings being of such size as to permit the fabric to have substantially the same flexibility at the joint as in the remaining portions of the fabric. The rings Lt may be formed in various ways. One suitable form of connecting ring for the present purpose may be made of telescoping portions according to the U. S. patcnt to Joseph Merritt, No. 956,394. l/Vhen such rings are employed, they may be applied with a special closing tool, similar to a pair of pliers, and are thus conveniently applied by hand. A rlhe rings may also be punched from sheet metal or cut from the end ofa steel tube. In

this ease the wires which the rines are to join are counterscrewed through the rings.

In the practical use of this invention, the spliced sections are preferably made up of units, each consist-ing of a single wire of right-hand twist and a single wire of lefthand twist, joined by connecting rings, as described above. These, splice units may then be used to join right and left-hand panels of conveyor' belts, orother fabrics having alternate right and left-hand twist` by screwing a proper connecting wire be tween each panel and the corresponding wirc of the splice unit. and then finishing the splice by bending over the ends of the connecting wires. l

Assuming Vthat this method has been employed in the sections of fabric shown 'in the 65 drawing, the wires 5 and 6, connected by the rings 1. form the splicing unit and the wires 7 and 8 are the .additional connecting wires screwed through the splicing unit and through the adjacent end wires 9 and 10, 70 respectively, of the adjacent panels.

v I claim as my invention:

1. A unit for joining sect-ions of wovenwire fabric composed of intermeshing helical wires of opposite twist, which comprises two helical wires of opposite twist, and closed ring connectors joining said wires.

2. A unit for joining sections of wovenwire fabric composed of intermeshing helical wires of vopposite twist, which comprises two helical wires of opposite twist, and a plurality of individual ring connectors each embracing a single turn of each of said wires.

3. A woven-wire fabric comprising' adjacent sections composed of inter-meshing helical wires of opposite twist, and a pluarlity of individual. ring connectors for joining each turn of the end wire of one section to the adjacent turn of the end wire of the adjacent section.

Signed at Hartford, Conn., this 18th day of F ebruary, 1927.

KARL E. PEILER. 

